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It was another weekend filled with friends, travels and a few cocktails so let me tell you five things that I was thankful for during it.

– For the second time in three weekends I made it back to Syracuse: this time for the annual WJPZ Alumni Banquet/Reunion. Some of the highlights included watching the Orange beat Clemson in the Carrier Dome, seeing my old professor Dr. Rick Wright and his son Rubin and hanging with both alumni and students at the after party.

– I flew back and forth to Syracuse and between the flights, Uber rides and hotel check-in I had zero interruptions. That is always a welcome footnote for a weekend.

– Despite going one stretch where I slept about six hours over a two day period, I still managed to run 4 miles this weekend. If I didn’t take good care of my body, minding both how I use it and what I put in it, I wouldn’t have been able to pull that off.

– It was so great to stop by MetroPCS with Team PLJ on Sunday afternoon. Thankfully with my lack of travel disruptions I had no issues landing at LaGuardia, getting back to my apartment to drop off my bags and making the trek to the Midwood neighborhood. Thanks for having us!

– Speaking of neighborhoods, Sunday night I ended up back in my old stomping grounds on the Upper West Side. I grabbed dinner with Ryan and watched The Oscars at Fred’s, then continued to e’s for a night cap before shopping at Fairway and heading back to the Financial District. Any weekend that can end with a trip to one of my favorite bars and a grocery store is usually a good weekend in my book.

Just because I waited until Friday, it doesn’t mean there are not five things I’m thankful for from last weekend.

– I not only returned to my yoga practice but then ran 6 miles outside. Yoga has been great to not only improve my pliability but also refocus my mind. Some would pick between the class or the run, others would opt for neither because it’s Saturday morning; I choose both because I’m thankful for the physical ability I have to take part in them – that’s something I don’t take for granted.
– My closet can now fully close for the first time since I moved to my new apartment. In addition to carving out time to clean it out and then actually following through, I’m thankful that I was able to donate a large bag to Goodwill.

– Syracuse lost at Duke on Saturday but I’m still thankful that I was able to watch the game at the local SU watch bar, Beer Authority, with my buddy Ryan. We grabbed a few more drinks afterwards before I met up with a colleague in town, Barbi Jo. Always nice to see friends!

– Speaking of Saturday night – a quick shout-out to Delta and the airline’s 48 hour cancellation policy. While looking up flights to Las Vegas for the first weekend of the college basketball tournament (another story for a different time), I accidentally booked a flight to Vegas. Whoops!

– On Sunday I ended up at Irving Plaza to see Quinn XCII live. I interviewed Quinn before the show, got to see my friend Matt who works for his label and then was introduced to Two Dollar Steve. Yes, he gave me a $2 bill. More on him here.

By the way, Steve wasn’t at the show alone. He brought along his friend to the VIP area where we were standing… Chelsea Clinton.

– I returned to my yoga practice. My building offers classes on Saturday morning and so I decided to not go out on Friday night, opting to work until 1:30 am. This positioned me to wake up without a hangover and with the desire to head upstairs so I could work on my tree pose and warrior two. Namaste.

– I finally visited the new Wegmans in Montvale. Oh, my, goodness. From the Burger Bar to the cookie bar to the sheer expansiveness of the store, it was worth the trip and then some. For those who don’t know, my first ever job was Front End Cashier at the Wegmans in the Town of Niagara, 17 years ago. Wow, that makes me feel old. Anyways, I stocked up on everything, including alcohol because Wegmans’ adjacent wine, beer and liquor store is equally fantastic.
– I had my second appearance of the year with 95.5 PLJ at T-Mobile in Mohegan Lake, New York. I loved visiting the northern part of Westchester County and hope to return soon; some of the mom-and-pop restaurants along the way looked like they served up some delicious food.

– I surprised my friend Ashley at a comedy show she was added to Sunday night in the East Village. I hadn’t seen her since she moved from Los Angeles almost a year ago to continue pursuing stand-up. She was fantastic and it was also pretty cool that I got to introduce her to Kelly’s – a Buffalo Bills and Sabres bar but also a Chicago Cubs and Bulls watering hole (she’s originally from Chicago and is a diehard Cubs fan).

– As for that aforementioned warm weather, it afforded me the opportunity to run outside Sunday, and I am beyond grateful for that. From the physical ability to run, to living in Manhattan where we have a plethora of amazing routes, to the fact that I didn’t have to bundle up because by the time I finished it was 60 (!) outside – it was a nice way to lead in to Sunday night and close out what was a great weekend.